One of my friends got admitted to Columbia MBA program and CMU MFE. He could not make up his mind so I post this message hopefully people on board can give him some advice. The pros and cons I discussed with him:1. It seems MFE graduates have a higher paying and more stable job as their career is well defined and highly specialized. On the other hand, MBA is more risky however as a generalist you could fit into many career path.2. In Finance, MBA graduates have to work crazy hours while MFE graduates usually don't work overtime and have a better work life balance.3. MFE graduates don't have to climb the corporate ladder to make a lot of money (they could stay being a quant while make a killing). MBA graduates have to move into senior management role to make serious money. Am I right?

Go MBA if you want to be a manager, go MFE if you want to be a quant.I have a friend who chose MBA over MFE, now he is a successful manager but desperate for more quant content which is what he really likes.I chose MFE over MBA because I don't want to waste my life doing what I don't like.

Cornell's dual MBA/MEng ORIE

His goal is to be independently wealthy. MFE may be a less risky option as even with a MBA degree, there is no guarantee to move up to be a manager and start to make real money. However, as quant, you can make good money as long as you got skills.

I would probably go for Columbia MBA major in finance.

isn't there a possibilty of MBA students to take some QF courses with the MFE students, that would be ideal, espacially that the MBA has a broader reach, so if it doesn't work out with banks, he can still work in say retail

CMU has a dual MBA/MSCF degree which might be a good option.

Really depends on personal interest. Look, you cannot have a career in anything if you dont like what you do. Go for the MFE if you think this is really interesting. Go for the MBA if you think that the program offers exposure to fields you wanna get into (be it finance, entrepreneurship, etc etc). Dont make a decision based on the probability of it generating money and getting you a good life and great carreer. It wont happen if you are not genuinely interested in the field. MFE is very specialised, which is good if you like finance. MBA is very broad and really does not give you any real skills. But you have easier time finding jobs because you have broader set of choices to choose from. And you do not make less money, especially once you start moving up the ladder.